Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Having just returned from a week in Ashland, which was, by the way, delightful in every way, and having not gone to the grocery store yet, Mr CC and I were poking around in the fridge and cupboards last night looking for something to fix for dinner when the unmistakable odor of "relaxing" produce hit our noses as the vegetable crispers were opened. I am being kind. It was gross.

We tend to stock up on produce, especially when we go to the Saturday Farmers Market, planning meals for the week. Then life happens: an invitation to dinner; a musical event; the theater. And dinner isn't prepared one, sometimes two nights that week and some of the produce sits neglected. And then it becomes inedible.

Disgusted by the waste of what was at one time beautiful produce, we decided two things on the spot: To buy only what we will use within two days, and to use up what we have before shopping for more.

What a challenge. After cleaning out the crispers, we were left with 2 bunches of celery, 1 leek and 5 large red beets. A package of confit of duck legs had been thawed, I had made creme fraiche before leaving for Ashland, and an onion and beautiful garlic were at hand. The freezer offered up toasted hazelnuts and the garden, some lovely tarragon.

Hmmm...

Cream of celery soup with fresh tarragon and a swirl of creme fraiche. Roasted beets topped with slivers of duck confit, chopped hazelnuts and a balsamic vinaigrette. Want the recipes? Here's the soup. The post for the beet and duck confit salad is here.

Add the chopped onion and sauté until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the chopped celery, garlic and leek and continue to sauté until the veggies have softened, about another 5 minutes. Do not allow them to brown as this will discolor the finished dish. You will finish cooking them in the stock or broth.

Have a soup pot standing by on another burner.

When the veggies are nicely softened, pour them into the soup pot.

Deglaze the sauté skillet with the 1/2 cup of vermouth and pour that over the veggies.

Turn the burner under the veggies to medium and add the chicken stock.

Simmer this until all the vegetbles are quite soft but still hold their shape, about 10 minutes.

Add the tarragon, give the pot a stir and simmer another minute.

Using a blender, purée the soup in batches until smooth, pouring each batch of puréed soup into a clean pot.

Now is the time to check and adjust for seasoning. Use kosher salt and freshly ground pepper if you wish, but I didn't need to.

Place the pot of soup on top of a heat spreader over very low heat and stir in the half and half.

Heat just to serving temperature.

To serve:

Ladle into individual bowls, plop a small dollop of creme fraiche in the middle and top with chopped celery fronds or small bits of chopped, fresh tarragon.

Cook's Notes:

It's very important to remove the strings from the backs of the celery. A vegetable peeler makes the task easy.

For a velvety smooth soup and elegant presentation, you could strain the pureed soup through a fine mesh strainer before adding the half and half. I myself like it rustic.

This was delicious the next morning cold from the fridge and would make a perfect dinner starter on a hot day.